Guatemala Part 3

Just before I left I was accosted in a long Spanish conversation by an evangelical doorman at my hotel. Was good fun to practice. I had heard Guatemala City was very dangerous so I was a little apprehensive about my arrival. Then again I weighed it up. The average Guatemalan was almost a foot shorter than me and about 70 pounds or so lighter. If I worked it the other way that would be like me going up against the wrestler the Undertaker. Now he is big. Even with a knife I would not feel certain of coming off. Would need a gun. Good I thought. They will need a gun to rob me, so I should be ok most of the time. I also look like a hobo so thats in my favour. I grabbed a chicken bus from Antigua and got thrown into the railings as it accelerated. Bruised my thigh, which I noticed when I tried to walk places. As we drove in we passed a Guatemalan hooters and various built up areas. It looked nice. They dropped me off in zone 3 (this is apparently a very dangerous area, but in the day it looked ok and I had no trouble, just strange looks lol). I walked with full backpack to zone 10 and met Paulina for drinks. She's a really cool individual. We have good chemistry as she talks a lot and is witty and it was fairly easy going. LAter we would be late to meet Pampa (who was my host) and we carried on drinking. He is ambassador for all of the city and has been a member for 4 years. I think its got almost blaise for him now. Paulina crashed the car on the way back, but I only got a bruised shin and everyone was ok. Back at Pampa's I cooked up some bland spaghetti (did not have my usual tools and it was too dry) and we chatted about film before getting some sleep.

Guatemala City is a surprisingly pretty city with tree lined avenues and public spaces with little monuments. At some points it even has the draping trees of a Savannah. It also felt good to be back in a real city with hardly any tourists and not some tourist ridden tiny town. In the morning I walked down to zone 1 but realised I was running a little late to meet Georgina. I dashed back across town and met her for lunch and some drinks. Cute girl, we had a good and brief time talking on random things. Then I met Paulina again for the childrens museum (which we were not allowed to enter) so we headed to a textiles museum. Would like to have done the history museum, but Pampa said it was a rip off for tourists. We had a lot more drinks, before joining Pampa, Sylvia and two couchsurfers from the States. Paulina eventually had to go so we kissed goodbye, though she was still feeling guilty about not paying for the pizza. I stayed chatting with Sylvia, while the Yankee girl went home sick and Pampa and the Yankee guy tried their luck with some locals. I spent way way way too much money on beer that night and we all got back to the house to crash for the evening. In the morning I woke up with a mild hangover and went to grab a bus up to Coban. Hopefully can do a weekend with them all in Rio Dulce but timing may be an issue with that.

The ride up was long and cramped, but fun as they usually are in minibuses. Back in Guatemala City I had actually found me someone who sold bags of water for 1 quetzal. Awesome, though bank security guards were pricks in not letting me use their machines. I arrived in Coban (a mountain town similar to Xalapa in climate) and not having any money to go on to Lanquin I stayed here for two nights. I should have pushed on, but I figured I could do the caves etc in a day trip. It meant sleeping early (which I failed to do) and getting up early (which I did), but I was shot down by a storm. Could not leave early and would not have made it. My cautious side for once overcame my reckless side (but not without a fight) and I figured I would come back in february. I walked up the hill to a nice temple and entered a national park for a walk in the rain before I decided to update the blog as I now had time lol. Seems like a waste of a day, but its a miserable day to waste and I have tv in this place. Will leave early tomorrow for Flores and Tikal before heading back towards Mexico. May even stay only one night if I leave early tomorrow. Enjoyed Guatemala, but have to do here properly, Livingston, Rio Dulce, Atitlan and see Ana in the south west when I come back in february. Don't imagine anything else exciting will happen today so next update will be on Tikal and how it compares to Palenque.